hawaii

saw woman in a red callico dress, thin sun dress and she had long slender legs pressed into nude-leather open-toes shoes with a pressed leather heel. Her toe nails were plum. The skin of her legs was translucent and pale and smooth. The dress covered her upper thigh but the hip was smooth under the thin fabric and her smooth tummy rose to a round bosom. Her arms were slender and her nails were short and natural. Her eyebrows were strong but her hair was dark and full and fell to her shoulder in one splash. Her skin was clear and her mouth was full and she sat there in the cafe nursing a coffee shake with a guy friend and I caught her eye and she looked at me and I couldn't read my Gravity's Rainbow -- then a friend of mine came in and we went outside for a cigarette and she left past us looked back and she and he took off in a civic... but her slim pale legs winked at me once more as she drew them into the car then she shut the door and as she passed I followed her and she smiled and left into the night in the white japanese import.

Green foam swirls and clings to my bare ankles;
Water warm and thick, my toes sink in the sand.
I walk in the surf because it is cool

Relief from the frying-pan beach.
The waves turn my clothes dark.
I Beckon you to join my promenade;

But, instead, sinking to my eyes like
Crocodile, I approach and grab your
Ankles to bring you in with me to swim.

We remove our clothes and they float like jellyfish:
Fabric bodies on the surface full with air,
Legs and sleeves swirl below like hair.

The water is always opaque when
Seen from shore. Only our heads
Bob like channel markers.

we ambled along the
crunchy surfaces
of the hard lava.

the sun was late
we held bags of cameras
and flashlights

sulphur and steam
scratched the vog hazy
sky like signals

ropes and cones
directed us to the
molten pourings

Mauna Loa, Kilauea,
vents, to the sea, more
mileage for the Island

we couldn't see the
soft stone from deep
below once magma

for the sea was far
and the foot holds were
perilous, the air cold

we wore hiking boots
we wore short pants
we wore t-shirts

we wore windbreakers
around out middles but
the head from the nearing

lava was like the sun mid
day on a windless deck
on a windless summer day

covered in asphalt
covered in asphalt
covered in asphalt

a mid summer say
windless and sunny
covered in asphalt

we had seen petroglyph
we had seen where women
offered umbilical cords

this place has mana from
pele, the goddess of fire,
of this cauldron

I hid my face behind
the viewfinder of a nikon
people warned of splattering

i inched in backwards
i felt fingers on the backs:
my thighs, small of back

whirled around for the shot
a single shutter release
and then back

two pretty girls from the UK
stood a few feet away and I
became more daring for them

i was with my lover but two girls
from the UK -- i had to do it
to slip up the older man with them

the sun wavered then set
the red lava broke free
repeatedly and each time

elated gasp and then children
took rocks and stones and hurled
them into the fissures.

thunk and then nothing the
lava was not even close to
liquidity. Viscous Viscous Viscous

and then the fissure broke and fingers
flitters through bright neon red like
the sign for live nudes on bourbon

a little honey all that black
velvet and red neon, but
of itself: flamboyant extreme.

the hard crusty french bread
pahoe'hoe lava beneath our
feet hot like from an oven

a warning sign: the dangers of
sulphur -- the dangers of sudden
fissure, of death of maiming --

warnings to pregnant mothers
two british nannies i showed
off for and my girl and hot lava.

lava surfing consists of parking a car
walking 200 meters with a flashlight,
looking for a while as sluggish

viscous
viscous
viscous

hot hot hot hot lava lava lava
pahoe'hoe, a'a, pahoe'hoe, a'a
crunch brittle shell

and then its over and you can't find the
British nannies but you have your lover and
you share a torch (for each other)

get into the car and
drive off and then lie
as to how difficult it has been.

I took a 3 mile swim across Waikiki
wore my new tyr goggles
rob wore tyr trunks

I swam in the soothing salt
water and watched the dim gray
fish as they scurried

I walked back along the
beach.

I actually wasn't self-
conscious of my paunch
I guess 3 miles of free-
style make me feel a little
pumped.

I arrived and my father
stood where I had left my
slippers, my t-shirt, my fob,
and my keys

95 sailors

he was smoking what looked
to be a joint

two men stood to either side

"they're Russian, this
is a Russian cigarette."

they were wearing
ball huggers (we
called them that
in high school)

they had a bottle of vodka in
their duffle

they had a hi-8 in their
duffle

they offered us cigarettes,
sweet tasting strong filterless
cigarettes.

They offered us shots of
cheap Russian vodka
in little Hawaiian shot
glasses which read:
full=stud
half=man
almost empty=girl

they where both
engineers in the
engine compartment
of a tuna boat out of
vladivostok (sp)

they made $200/$150
per month

they spoke no English save
5-6 words

I new nastrovia
I knew da
I knew nyet
c'est tout

they knew German,
I knew french

I didn't get us any closer

danke bitter
ya da nyet 9

anyway...

Strong men
and they were bearish
although they weren't
tall,
but I have never considered
a bear tall, just big and strong.

Robert had a mouth full of gold
the other man had a name
a could not pronounce
they told us the word
for merci/danke
and de rien/bitter

but I forgot.

We had to leave-- bob to meat a lover
and me to call my gal who spent
merry merry merry merry
with her familial clique
in Connecticut (they love
to sail there-- I hated it)

sizzle sizzle
is that pork on the pan?